Three short years ago, there was really no way to comprehend how full my heart would be with being a mommy to our little Woob. As I’m writing this at just a little after eight in the morning, I realize that only the following had yet happened:

1. We were called to show up at the hospital around 5 a.m. to wait in a little waiting room off the emergency.

2. We were called just prior to 6:30 by N.’s Dad who was in the delivery room. We had not yet met him, but he called to say the baby had been born, and “wait a second…” We waited, and a few seconds later, we heard the first cry of the baby who would become our son. What a gift. I am still in awe that he thought to do that–he didn’t have to.

3. We met Woob’s grandparents for the first time on the hospital ward.

4. We saw the naked, squalling, newborn through the glass, getting his vitals checked and all the poking and prodding that’s involved with coming into the world.

And that’s it. By this time on that day, we had not yet met N. in person, not yet held our son, talked to his family about his history and their wishes, met with tiresome attorneys…given first baths, baptized, heard first words, watched first steps, taught first words, taken to daycare, rocked to sleep a thousand times, fed solid foods, giggled, cried, pulled in a wagon, pushed on a swing, climbed on a slicky slide, gone to the ocean, taken to the zoo, played in the snow, and on and on and on…and all of the other miracles that came along the way till now. How could we have possibly known the joy we’d feel?

Woob, I love you with all my heart and still can’t believe you are with us. I pray every day that I succeed in doing right by you, in giving you what you need to grow up healthy and happy and strong. May the sun shine on you today. You’re THREE! (That means you get to go roller skating! 😉 )